Mysterious Assistant of the Washed-Up Queen-Chapter 508 - 329: Wei Chuan Loses His Temper, Current Situation on Set_2

"Who? Oh, Chu, you got here so quick?"

"Quick? We took a break at the hotel this afternoon," Chu Tian said with a smile. "How’s it going, Uncle Wei, everything smooth?"

Who knew, the moment he mentioned it, Wei Chuan’s face darkened. "Smooth my ass! I’m so stressed I’ve got blisters in my mouth. I keep pushing the progress, but it just doesn’t pick up."

"What’s the matter?" Chu Tian asked. "Tell me, maybe there’s something we can do about it."

"There’s nothing you can do. It’s just how things are here; you wouldn’t know since you’re not in filmmaking..." Once he started on this topic, Wei Chuan was like an opened floodgate, and he just wouldn’t stop.

"To sum it up," Wei Chuan continued, his voice laced with frustration, "the project is simply too big, employing too many new technologies. The problem is that domestic film industry standards are highly inconsistent, which has led to immense difficulties in advancing the project. We spent substantial time just assembling the team.

"Furthermore, when the team tried to work together, problems emerged everywhere. We even changed several departments midway, but it was futile; the same issues persisted. Either we have new equipment that nobody knows how to use, necessitating external guidance, or the new technologies are too complex and we can’t achieve the desired effects even after repeated attempts. It’s exhausting not only for the crew but also for the actors and the director.

"Ultimately, it’s about cooperation. Working with professionals can double your effectiveness, but collaborating with unprofessional people? That’s incredibly frustrating."

Wei Chuan thought Chu Tian, having never been part of a film crew, was unaware of these issues, so he bitterly complained, pouring out his grievances.

In fact, Chu Tian had worked on films in his previous life, so he knew about some of these problems, though not in as much detail as Wei Chuan.

At first, he’d wondered if these problems were really that severe. But as Wei Chuan continued, he realized that the issues might be much more serious than he had initially thought.

"Our domestic film industry started slowly," Wei Chuan explained. "And then it was all about internal strife—factions wrestling and combating incessantly, never truly allowing the industry to progress."

Outsiders might not be clear on some things, but Wei Chuan was a native of the Capital Circle and had grown up in that environment; he knew the ins and outs well. Although he disliked the practices of some people there and wasn’t close to them, he was still well aware of the insider information.

"In the early years, the film industry was largely dictated by the authorities. After the reforms and opening up, we started aligning with international standards, and our first contact was with the Hong Kong Circle..."

This brought him to the chaotic history of the domestic film industry. They learned from foreign practices and the Hong Kong Circle. Subsequently, homegrown circles like the Shanghai Circle, Capital Circle, Western Circle, Beijing Film, and Beijing Movie emerged. There were constant internal battles, backstabbing, and mudslinging everywhere, creating lasting feuds.

"Most of these issues were among the higher echelons, including capital investors, actors, directors, and producers," Wei Chuan continued. "But the situation wasn’t much better at the lower levels. For example, almost all lighting teams nationwide come from the same county. Your lighting team might even all be from the same village, possibly even relatives!

"The same goes for cinematography. From the director of photography to the assistants, they might all be from the same school—seniors leading juniors, a deeply interconnected network.

"In the West, they have a formal commercial filmmaking process, an industrialized mode of production. What do we have here? A cottage industry?"

Although Wei Chuan’s words were somewhat extreme, the issues he described were very real.

Hollywood is indeed the leader in industrialized filmmaking. Their path might not always be right, but their current model is certainly the most standard and effective. For instance, domestically, forming a film crew starts with finalizing the script. Then, producers and directors collaborate on a shooting plan, and only then do they begin to assemble the crew, including lighting, cinematography, wardrobe, makeup, and props—all recruited on an ad-hoc basis.

A group of strangers is hastily assembled and expected to start working immediately. What kind of synergy can be expected from such a model? Not to mention professionalism.

"What about Hollywood?" Wei Chuan elaborated. "Every sector there has its own professional teams. Large companies often foster their own specialized units. Whether it’s lighting or cinematography, you can find established, professional teams with formal training systems. It’s not just film crews; any team needed in the entertainment industry is available for you to choose from.

"Even for a Singer like Xu Qingqiu, if she needed training in Singing Skills, vocalization, dance, or even styling, there are dedicated professionals over there. And often, behind these professionals is a complete team. You just need to pay, specify the desired effect, and leave the rest to them. That’s standardization and industrialization!

"But what about here, domestically? You find a cinematographer, and that’s literally all you get—just the cinematographer. Then you have to find the chief camera assistant and junior camera assistants separately. None of them know each other, yet they have to cooperate. How can they? They might not even follow the same protocols. Forget cooperation; just getting them to align takes a long time."

"Yeah, I understand. That’s indeed a problem," Chu Tian said, nodding.

Through Wei Chuan’s words, Chu Tian gained a clearer picture. Essentially, Wei Chuan was venting his frustration that the domestic film industry was like an amateur troupe, not up to professional standards. The core issue was his difficulty in collaborating smoothly with these people due to a lack of synergy.

This kind of situation was very common among top directors. The more prominent the director, the higher their demands, leading to higher standards and their own unique styles. This became even more apparent in big productions. Many people knew that when *The Wandering Earth* was filmed in Chu Tian’s previous life, there wasn’t a single fully professional team available in the country.

A permanent member of the UN Security Council, a nation with over a billion people, a global leader in technology, and the second-largest film market in the world. Yet, under these circumstances, they couldn’t even assemble a team capable of shooting a big-budget sci-fi movie. Isn’t that laughable?

In the end, the director had to practically reinvent the wheel, building a team from scratch—training them while shooting—just to get an entire film crew that could barely handle the movie.

Just how difficult was that? After filming wrapped, the main creative team was so overwhelmed they were on the verge of breaking down. It had been incredibly hard!

Of course, this was also because that particular team was very young; there were still intelligent and capable people in the country.

Take Zhang Yimou from Chu Tian’s previous life, for example. He strongly advocated for the industrialization of the film industry, but it was wishful thinking for one person to try and change the entire country.

However, for his own productions, Zhang Yimou did have his professional team. Apart from minor, trivial roles like set runners, Zhang Yimou’s team was very comprehensive. For lighting, cinematography, costumes, makeup, props, and so on, he used his own handpicked people.

These individuals had been with him for many years, and a deep mutual understanding had long since formed, which naturally made their cooperation very smooth.

Actually, it wasn’t just him. Many people in the industry were aware of the current situation but felt powerless to change it. Consequently, more and more people began to band together out of necessity.

Take cinematographers, for example. They would also assess the people they collaborated with. If they found someone suitable, they would deepen the collaboration. The next time a job came up, they would bring that person along. Over time, after working together on one or two films, they would develop a synergy. Subsequent projects would see improvements in both efficiency and results, by more than just a small margin.

"Of course, there’s another way: to train your own professional team," Wei Chuan said, shaking his head. "But this is even harder. How do you even begin to train them? From top to bottom, how many people does a film crew need? A small crew for a short film might manage with a dozen or twenty people, but a large production can easily require hundreds, even thousands. 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

"Even if you really wanted to maintain such a team, how would you calculate their wages? A base salary? How much? People working on a film for a month, even those at the lowest level, make seven or eight thousand, usually more than ten thousand. What can you offer?

"If the company doesn’t have enough consistent work, who would accept a guaranteed four or five thousand a month? They’d say, ’I’m here to make money, not to coast into retirement!’ You wouldn’t be able to retain anyone.

"But if you offered them seven or eight thousand, or even ten thousand, as a base, that would be even worse. They’d think, ’I get paid ten thousand whether I work hard for a month or do nothing. So why bother working hard? Isn’t it better to just slack off?’

"So, you see, training your own team is incredibly troublesome."

"Uncle Wei, I understand everything you’ve said," Chu Tian replied. "So, what are you thinking now?"

Wei Chuan had pointed out very real problems. Nonetheless, Chu Tian thought, the project has already started. They surely can’t just stop everything to focus on industrializing the entire sector first, right? That’s ridiculous. Such a thing would take decades, if not longer. What are they supposed to do in the meantime?

"Sigh, I know," Wei Chuan said, his gaze unconsciously drifting to Chu Tian’s face. "But you see the current situation. There really is no other choice. Maybe... the subsequent shooting schedule will need to be postponed. I need to work on gelling the crew first..."